This project proposes to compare recent defense acquisition reforms with a specific focus on how defense system development activities are organized in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Drawing on traditional studies on best practices in private firms and focusing on the new trends for government agencies to emulate the private sector, this study tries to address the following questions. Can and should government learn anything from private-sector best practices so that its operations may be improved in terms of efficiency; value, and customer satisfaction? What are the impediments to successful implementation of such attempts? What implications can be drawn from the findings of this research tor further theoretical and empirical inquiries? By answering these key issues, this project proposes not only to provide a comparable framework of performance improvements but also pave the way toward a meaningful fusion of management thinking and public policy implementation.